Thursday, October 5, 2017

Two
parents in Sydney have been arrested and charged after allegedly deliberately
leaving their children in hot cars. A
Sydney mother was charged after leaving her 15-month-old daughter in a car at
Hurstville shopping centre and a two-year-boy was rescued after his dad left
him in a vehicle at Yagoona while he went to the Hume Hotel for a drink. The
girl at Hurstville was assessed by ambulance workers and was given the
all-clear

Hurstville Oval is
a multi-use sporting ground, located in the suburb of Hurstville, in Sydney's
southern suburbs. Since its opening, it has held various sports at the venue –
including Cricket, Rugby League, Cycling and Football. The oval also has a
velodrome in the grounds, between the field and the stands. It was opened in
1911. On the official opening day, cricketer Warren Bradley brought the
Australian Team to the ground to play the local St George team. She is no model but one aspiring to become a
role-model !!

When
she received a phone call from her umpiring idol Simon Taufel to tell her she'd
been appointed to a JLT game, Polosak did a "bit of a jig" before
calling husband Evan to tell him the news.
Claire Polosak never played cricket and failed the umpires' exam "a
few times" but is set to become the first woman to officiate an Australian
men's top level fixture when New South Wales play a Cricket Australia XI in a
one-day match on Sunday, 8th Oct 2017.

Polosak, a fixture
in men's club matches in Sydney, will take the field with veteran umpire Paul
Wilson at Hurstville Oval, where Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc is also
expected to feature for the Blues. Before you read to connect : Maninder Singh, Kumara
Dharmasena, Srinivasan Venkatraghavan, Peter Willey, Paul Reiffel, Richard Illingworth (don’t jump to say
cricketers) …. Or - Madhav Gothoskar; Arani Jayaprakash; Swaroop Kishen; M. V.
Nagendra; VK Ramaswamy; Judah Reuben; B Satyaji Rao; Mysore Vijayasarathi …. here is
more, International names this time : Ashoka De silva; Dickie Bird; Billy Bowden; Steve Bucknor;
Aleem Dar; Darrell Hair; Daryl Harper; Rudi Koertzen; David Shepherd; Simon
Taufel …………………….. not an exhaustive list
of the Gentlemen in the middle with white coats with authority to decide – the
finger going up, signalling or ordering the batsmen to trudge back towards the
pavilion. The first list in bracket is
Umpires who have earlier played Cricket at National level …

Earlier ICC decided
that it will 4 women umpires officiating in Women's
World T20 Qualifier in Bangkok - New Zealand's Kathy Cross, Australia's Claire
Polosak, England's Sue Redfern and West Indies' Jacqueline Williamshave. Cross,
the most experienced of the four, had become the first woman to be named in an
ICC umpires' panel in 2014, having been added to the Associate and Affiliate
panel. She has the distinction in standing as Umpire in the Women's World Cup.

Now comes the
moment for Polosak as she will be on
pitch for the men's List A domestic match between New South Wales and the
Cricket Australia XI in Sydney. It will be a huge moment for the 29-year-old,
who has previously officiated the ICC Women's World T20 and has been third
umpire for the domestic one-day cup. Polosak has always loved the game and
currently holds a role with Cricket NSW that focuses on female engagement and
umpire educating.

Ahead of her next
career milestone on Sunday, she admits she has had to put in the extra effort
as a female in a male-dominated profession. "The way the appointments work
is based on merit so I have never asked for anything extra. Polosak says all
players have shown her respect so far and she regularly engages in
"friendly banter", and has not faced any situations she has not been
able to deal with. She is hoping her latest appointment can inspire other young
women to chase their dreams.

While Polosak
remained tight-lipped on her ultimate goals, she said the idea of two female
umpires occupying the pitch in a first class men's match could eventually be a
reality. Hope no player ever complains
of distraction on field !!